Foxglove, 1945
WAGL-285
A plant of the genus Digitalis, especially D. purpurea, indigenous to Europe, having a long cluster of large, tubular, pinkish-purple flowers and leaves that are the source of the drug digitalis.
Builder: Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works
Length: 114'
Beam: 30'
Draft: 6'
Displacement: 385 tons
Cost: $191,595
Commissioned: 1 October 1945
Decommissioned: 8 July 1977
Disposition: Sold
Machinery: 3 Fairbanks Morse diesel engines; 600 BHP; three propellers
Performance & Endurance:
Max: 9.0 knots
Cruising: 7.5 knots; 2,100 mile range
Deck Gear: 3-ton capacity boom; air-powered hoist
Complement: 22
Armament: None (small arms?)
Electronics: None
Tender History:
The inland river tender Foxglove was designed and built by Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works in Dubuque, Iowa and entered commissioned service on 1 October 1945. She was designed to work with a working barge that she pushed off her bow; the barge could be interconnected to the tender's piping systems. The Foxglove had a steel hull, decks, and superstructure.
She was assigned to the 2nd Naval District and was stationed at St. Louis, Missouri, where she served out of for her entire Coast Guard career. Her engines were replaced in 1961. Besides servicing river aids to navigation, she participated in a number of other operations. In May 1961 she assisted in flood relief in the Olive Branch area. On 31 March 1968 she assisted after a fire on a barge at Cahokia, Illinois.
She was decommissioned on 8 July 1977 and sold. She served as a quarters boat, renamed Harvey, until she was sold to Walter Marine in 1995. Walter Marine renamed her Maranatha and modified her for use to deploy artificial reefs.
Sources:
Cutter History File. USCG Historian's Office, USCG HQ, Washington, D.C.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946-1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990.